Open AccessIncreased IL ‐8 production in human bronchial epithelial cells after exposure to azithromycin‐pretreated Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro
Author(s) -
Fan Li,
Wang Qian,
la FuenteNúñez César,
Sun FengJun,
Xia JianGuo,
Xia PeiYuan,
Hancock Robert E.W.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6968.12441
Subject(s) - pseudomonas aeruginosa , microbiology and biotechnology , azithromycin , in vitro , type three secretion system , secretion , immune system , bacteria , virulence , bacterial outer membrane , biology , immunology , gene , antibiotics , escherichia coli , biochemistry , genetics
Although P seudomonas aeruginosa is not typically susceptible to azithromycin ( AZM ) in in vitro tests, AZM improves the clinical outcome in patients with chronic respiratory infections, in which both the modulation of the host immune system and of bacterial virulence by AZM are thought to play an important role. However, there is currently little direct evidence showing the impact of bacteria pretreated with AZM on epithelial cells, which represents the first barrier to infecting P . aeruginosa . In this study, we pretreated P . aeruginosa with AZM and subsequently infected human bronchial epithelial cells ( HBE s) in the absence of AZM . The results showed that AZM ‐pretreated P . aeruginosa ( PAO 1 and six different clinical isolates) significantly stimulated HBE cells to release IL ‐8, a crucial pro‐inflammatory cytokine. This effect was not observed in a P . aeruginosa PAO 1 mutant strain unable to produce the type III secretion system effector gene pcrV (strain PW 4017). Our results suggest that AZM ‐pretreated P . aeruginosa could indirectly exacerbate pro‐inflammation by inducing IL ‐8 production in HBE s.